Hontiveros files resolution seeking diplomatic pressure against China

Sen. Risa Hontiveros. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution urging the executive branch to exert legal and diplomatic pressure upon the Chinese government to cease all of its ecologically destructive activities in the West Philippine Sea.

In her proposed Senate Resolution No. 85, Hontiveros likewise urged the executive branch to pressure China into paying reparations for damage already done by its continued activities in Philippine territory.

She said unlawful Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea are estimated to have caused at least P33 billion of damage annually to marine ecosystems within the Philippines’ continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, or around P396 billion since 2013.

READ: West-ph-sea-china-research-vessel-leaves-panatag-drone-mothership-remains/

“In the form of reparations, these are funds that can be used not only to restore and renew vulnerable marine ecosystems but also to bolster Philippine efforts to address the pandemic as well,” she said.

Meanwhile, she likewise criticized China’s continued presence in the West Philippine Sea, particularly citing the Philippine Navy’s data and pointing out that China’s presence in the area has hit a record high in 2024 with 28 CCG vessels, 16 People’s Liberation Army Navy warships, 204 maritime militia vessels, and 3 Chinese research or surveillance vessels, a total of 251 Chinese ships, tracked within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

“The Philippine Coast Guard has also blamed the so-called Chinese Maritime Militia for the destruction of coral reef ecosystems within the Philippines’ EEZ, including those in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal, as stated by Commodore Jay Tarriela, underwater surveys showed “that the marine ecosystem in the subject West Philippine Sea features appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life,” said Hontiveros.

With these, she called on the executive branch to once and for all exert legal and diplomatic pressure against China and make it accountable for its deeds.

China’s continued aggression in Philippine waters is borne out of a sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

It, however, has long been dismissed by an arbitral tribunal. /mr